Section 3: Methods and Equipment of the Attempt

3.1. With the aim of regulating, in view of their eventual official verification, all Record Attempts, F.R.E.E. has set out the relevant standards to be fully complied with on the occasion of any attempt.

3.2. F.R.E.E. requires the diver’s minimum age to be 18 years.

3.3. F.R.E.E. recognizes the following records: men’s record, women’s record.

3.4. F.R.E.E. recognizes the following records for Vertical Immersion categories: a) Salt-Water record, b) Fresh-Water record and the following records for Horizontal Immersion categories: a) Open Water b) *Confined-Water record

3.5. The minimum depth or length by which an attempt must surpass the existing Official Record to become a New Record is one (1) meter/ 3.28 feet.

3.6. The maximum depth or length by which an attempt may surpass the existing Official Record to become a New Record is as follows: Five(5) meters/ 16.4 feet more than the deepest record of all three (3) categories for Constant Ballast, ten(10) meters/ 32.8 feet for the Limited Variable Ballast category, and Unlimited for all the Horizontal Immersion categories. F.R.E.E. does not intend to set up limits to the performance of Freedivers with this guideline, but rather to make the progression towards deeper depths as safe as possible and to keep the sport as competitive as possible.

3.7. An attempt will be declared a Shared Record if it equals the depth of the existing Official Record.

3.8. The Freediver must submit to F.R.E.E. a "Medical Certificate of Fitness for Diving" no later than fifteen (15) days prior to the attempt date. This medical certificate must be approved and signed by a competent and certified physician and it cannot be issued any earlier than thirty (30) days prior to the attempt date. A sample of a Medical Certificate of Fitness for Diving is part of the Record Package.

3.9. The Freediver must be within sight and reach of the F.R.E.E. Judges at least two(2) hours before he/she enters the water.

3.10. The Freediver must kit up in the presence of the Judges, who must inspect all the Applicable Equipment of choice and certify its suitability. Upon exiting the water, the Freediver must present the equipment to the Judges to verify that no alteration has occurred.

3.11. Upon entering the water, the Freediver is allowed one (1) hour to complete the attempt. During this time the Freediver is allowed to perform warm-up dives prior to the attempt. The Freediver must have the assistance of a Support Diver or Divers if the depth or length of the training dives so requires it, as per the Positioning Requirements found in the Section Support Divers Procedures and Guidelines.

3.12. The Judges must receive a signal fifteen (15) minutes before the attempt, at which point they start a countdown. All Support Divers and other authorized personnel that have not yet entered the water must do it at this point. No Divers are allowed in the water after ten (10) minutes before the attempt. Once the countdown reaches five (5) minutes before the attempt, all divers must start their descent to their assigned positions.

3.13. Only once the countdown reaches zero (0) minutes can the Freediver initiate the descent. However, after the zero (0) mark, the Freediver is allowed a maximum of two (2) minutes to initiate the descent.

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